■ 


Life  an(J  character  cf 
Hen*  David  L.  Swain, 
Late  president  of  the  University 
of  N.C. 

A  meiTJcrial  craticn  by  ZeV>:^  on  B 
Vance* 

1878 


^23.2.73 
S  S  7  I 


PERKINS  LIBRARY 

Duke  University 


REV.  TJiepHS  ^TKIN^BN,  D.  D.,  IiL.  D.,:if-^ 


BISHOP  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA. 


S  E  t  M  0  K 

( o.M.M i:mi>ka  rrvi:  <»i  nn:  l.\tk 


Jh'sfioj)  of  y<irfh  ('it  ml  inn  J 

DELIVERED  IN  CHHIST  CHURCH,  RALEKIH, 

KKFORE  THK 

Convention  of  Xorth  Carolina, 
May  IX,  l^^x], 

BY 

HENRY  C.  LAY, 
Bi.ikop  of  Efi!<fon. 


WINSTON,  N.  c. 

CHURCH  MESSENGER  Pl^BLISHIN(;  HOUSf:, 


^*^8oiiie  portions  of  this  serniou  were  omitted,  for 
lack  of  time,  in  delivery. 


Peter  seeing  liim  saith  to  Jesus.  Lord,  and  what  sliall  this  man  d<>?  Jesiis  saith 
inito  him,  If  I  will  that  lie  tarry  till  I  come,  what  is  that  ti»  thee?  Follow  tlion  me. 
— St.  John.  xxi..  ;21.  2'2. 

THE  risen  Lord  i.s  conversiiicr  with  the  two  most  eminent  (tf  His 
apostles.  He  shadows  fortli  wliat  shall  liefall  them  in  the  latter 
day.s. 

''Follow  Me,"  He  said  to  Peter,  and.  snitinjj'  the  action  to  the 
Word.  He  took  some  steps  alouo-  the  shore.  He  jiredicts  a  life  of  perse- 
cution. He  signifies  also  what  manner  of  death  he  should  die.  Bonds 
and  the  Mamertine  prison  await  him,  anrl  he  is  to  be  crucified  at  Rome 
with  his  head  downward. 

Thus  dealeth  the  Merciful  One  with  a  devoted  servant,  whose  heaii 
He  had  just  broken  hy  the  very  excess  of  His  foi-giveuess,  and  on  whom 
He  had  just  devolved  the  most  sacred  of  all  trusts,  the  feeding  of  His 
sheep  and  of  His  lambs. 

"  And  what  shall  this  man  do  ?  " 

St.  John,  already  a  martyr  in  will,  although  unbidden,  has  risen  uj* 
to  tread  in  symbol  the  via  dolorosa  behind  his  5laster  and  his  comrade. 

Our  Lord  replies,  for  history  interprets  the  dark  saying,  that  for 
John  there  awaited  not  like  bitterness  of  death.  He  was  to  tarry  to  a 
good  old  age  until  his  Lord  should  come  and  give  him  releasee  in  the  or- 
dinary course  of  nature. 

But  ''what  is  that  to  thee?"'  We  nuist  not  (juestion  Him  too  curi- 
ously when  to  one  disciple  He  a])points  a  life  of  sorrow  and  a  death  of 
shame,  while  another,  just  as  ready  for  the  baptism  of  suffering,  is  to 
abide  in  safety  and  to  die  in  peace. 

^ly  brethren,  I  would  .set  in  the  forefront  of  this  discourse  the  ex- 
j)ression  of  our  devout  gratitude  to  Almighty  God  for  the  tenderness  of 
His  lifie-long  dealing  with  Thomas  Atkinsox,  late  Bishop  of  Xorth  Oaro- 
lina.  Few  lives  have  been  so  even  and  so  prosperous,  so  laden  with  sub- 
stantial blessing,  so  shielded  from  calamity. 


JiX  MFJIOBIAM 


I  am  far  from  siigtnesting  that  he  did  not  share  to  the  full  in  the 
trials  and  the  «irief<  eomm(m  to  all  great-hearted  Christian  men.  The 
flesh  could  not  l)e  subdued  to  the  spirit  without  anguish  of  soul.  Zeal 
for  (lod's  house  eould  not  but  eimsume  the  heart  in  which  it  burned. 
Sympathies  so  habitually  cultivated  could  not  fail  to  call  forth,  in  this 
sad  world,  many  a  tear  of  generous  ^rief.  (irave  responsibilities  could 
not  be  borne  through  a  long  life,  ancl  often  under  critical  circumstances, 
without  heart-ache  and  anxiety,  and  many  a  wound  to  the  sensibilities. 
J^ut  for  all  this,  we  may  rightly  say  of  this  steward  in  the  family  of  God, 
"The  Lord  was  with  Jose})h,  and  he  was  a  prosperous  man,  *  * 

the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  that  which  he  did,  the  Lord  made  it  to  pros- 

I  »■'•."  

Consider  him  in  his  natural  endowments  and  his  personal  gifts. 
How  goodly  a  j)resence  was  his!  A  manly  form,  a  noble  head,  a  coun- 
tenance in  which  intellectual  power,  strength  of  will  and  sweetness  of 
temper  were  harmoniously  condiine<l,  and  were  the  more  lovely  for  the 
singular  absence  of  self-con>('iou>n(^ss.  Strangers  everywhere  turned  to 
look  on  him  as  on  a  nuui,  beyond  doubt,  a  chieftain  in  his  proper  sphere. 

H(nv  suitable  was  his  })rej)aration  for  hi?«  ultimate  work  I  To  early 
familiarity  with  plantation  life  and  country  people  were  added  the  study 
and  practice  of  the  law,  j)romoting  that  judicial  mind  which,  in  after 
years,  gave  him  so  nuich  power  in  debate,  and  which  in  the  House  of 
J^ishops  caused  him  to  be  deferred  to  in  any  emergency  specially  de- 
manding moderation  and  just  judgment. 

During  his  earlier  ministry,  the  very  repression  to  which  men  of  his 
ecclesiastical  views  were  subjected  in  Virginia,  served,  as  in  the  case  of 
his  dear  friend  Bishoj)  Cobbs,  to  make  him  more  cautious,  more  tolerant, 
more  careful  to  observe  the  ])roportion  of  faith.  But  he  never  wavered 
in  the  two  ccmvictions  which  moulded  his  ministerial  career,  viz.,  that 
the  apostolic  authority  has  been  perpetuated  and  is  now  vested  in  the 
Bishops,  and  that  in  the  holy  sacrainents  grace  is  exhibited  and  confer- 
red, unless  there  is  a  bar. 

Success  attended  his  })riestly  ministry  in  Norfolk  and  in  Lynch- 
burg. When  he  removed  to  Baltimore,  Maryland  at  once  recognized 
his  ability  and  gave  him  her  confidence,  (irace  Church  is  a  monument 
of  his  success  as  a  Presbyter  of  that  diocei^e. 

He  was  prospered  as  Bishop  of  North  Carolina.  That  diocese  had 
just  received  in  the  defection  of  his  predecessor  a  severe  and  mortifying 
blow.  The  friends  of  Bishop  Atkinson  anticipated  f  )r  him  no  small  dif- 
ficulty in  securing  the  confidence  of  people  alarmed  and  agitated,  and  in 


BISHOP  ATKINSON. 


preventing  ilie  rebound  toward  denial  of  catliolic  truth,  which  r^o  na- 
turally foilowt^  the  insidious  intrusion  of  inediceval  err(»rs  under  color  of 
that  honored  name. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that,  under  his  firm  and  gentle  guidance,  con- 
lidence  was  restored,  and  your  diocese  remained  true  to  her  principles  a.s 
in  the  days  of  Ravenscroft. 

I  would  mention,  moreover,  some  illustrations  of  this  prosperity,  (jf 
another  sort.  Bishop  Atkinson  was  never  a  man  of  large  wealth.  He 
had  never  more  than  a  moderate  salary ;  but,  through  the  blessing  of 
(xod  upon  a  domestic  life  void  of  ostentation  or  extravagance,  and  a 
household  most  prudently  administered  by  one  on  whom  he  had  need 
chiefly  to  devolve  that  care,  he  had  always  enough  for  reasonable  wants  ; 
en(jugh  for  his  favorite  books ;  enough  to  help  a  poor  man  ;  enough  to 
aid  a  child  or  a  friend  in  an  emergency.  Nay,  during  the  years  of  civil 
war,  when  the  usual  income  from  the  diocese  failed  him,  it  was  as  if  the 
I'avens  brought  him  food.  An  old  investment,  for  long  years  utterly 
worthless,  became  remunerative  for  the  time,  and  supplied  all  his 
needs. 

In  a:nother  point  of  view,  the  domestic  life  of  our  departed  friend  is 
remarkable. 

To  Robert  and  Mary  Tabb  Atkinson,  of  Mansfield,  Va.,  were  born 
eleven  children,  of  whom  Thomas  was  the  sixth  in  order.  The  first  death 
in  this  large  family  was  that  of  the  eldest  son  at  the  age  of  fifty.  An- 
other son  died  at  the  age  of  sixty  ;  thus,  of  the  Bishop's  ten  brothers  and 
sisters,  eight  survive  him,  and  three  of  these  survivors  are  his  seniors. 
Again,  the  Bishop's  married  life  extended  over  a  period  of  fifty-three 
years.    In  all  this  time  there  was  never  a  death  in  his  immediate  family, 

►Surely,  brethren,  those  of  you  who  are  familiar  with  the  sorrow  of 
the  "dead  lamb  "  in  the  flock,  and  the  "  vacant  chair  "  by  the  fireside, 
will  recognize  the  tenderness  of  providential  ordering,  which  thus  ex- 
empted from  bereavement  one  who  had  a  singular  a})preciation  of  the 
family  tie,  and  who  es})ecially  enjoyed  'he  affection  and  the  companion- 
ship of  his  kindred. 

I  might  multiply  these  illustrations  ;  I  might  speak  of  the  absence 
of  all  acrimony  or  defamation  in  the  exciting  controversies  in  which  he 
was  conspicuous  ;  of  the  health  usually  adequate  to  his  duties  ;  and  when 
it  had  seemed  to  fail,  wonderfully  restored  by  travel  ;  of  the  compara- 
tively easy  descent  into  the  grave  at  last — made  the  easier  from  the  knowl- 
edge that  the  diocese  was  safe,  during  his  disability,  in  the  charge  of  an 
experienced  colleague  fully  adequate  to  its  administration. 


6. 


L\  MEMOBLUI 


Brethren,  voii  huve  the  right  to  atjk  why  I  have  dwelt  at  so  much 
leii^'th  upon  these  particulars.  I  answer  that  this  review  of  the  pros- 
perous life  of  a  man  who  had  the  courage  and  the  will  to  drink  any  cup 
of  pain,  and  yet  was  spared  so  much  of  life's  bitterness,  teaches  us  a 
h'sson  c(mcerning  the  love  of  God. 

It  reminds  us  that,  where  the  conditions  of  the  individual  soul  and 
the  development  of  the  divine  purpose  permit,  God  prefers  to  assign  us 
the  discipline  of  pros])erity,  rather  than  of  adversity.  He  doth  not 
deal  with  us  capriciously,  but  varies  the  expressions  of  His  love  to  suit 
tlie  needs  of  each  soul,  and  to  fit  it  for  its  place  and  its  work  in  His 
spiritual  kingdom.  It  is  not  every  one,  as  Leighton  says,  who  can  carry 
a  full  cup  even. 

It  was  because  the  Lord  loved  St.  Peter  that  He  made  him  partner 
in  His  stripes  and  wounds  and  bitter  cross;  it  was  because  the  Lord 
loved  St.  John,  that  He  sustained  him  in  life  with  the  rapturous  visions 
of  Patmos,  and  gave  to  him  a  peaceful  old  age  in  which  to  preach  still 
his  favorite  message,  "Little  children,  love  one  another."  But  it  is  the 
same  infinite,  undying  love,  which  sets  each  star  in  the  celestial  firma- 
ment where  best  it  may  illustrate  the  glory  of  His  grace. 

In  discharging  the  duty  which  your  Bishop  and  other  honored 
members  of  this  diocese  have  laid  upon  me,  I  cannot  easily  avoid  the 
-train  of  personal  reminiscence. 

Our  ancestors  were  friends  and  neighbors,  and  were  connected  by 
marriage.  My  mother  was  reared  in  the  family  and  married  at  tlie 
home  of  his  grandfather,  and  the  fiimily  bond  was  drawn  more  closely 
in  later  years. 

My  first  visit  to  him  was  at  his  home  at  Lyncliburg,  in  the  year  1848. 
\"ery  pleasant  is  it  to  recall  the  intimacy  of  the  three  friends,  Cobbs 
and  Parks  and  Atkinson,  and  their  discussions,  in  the  presence  of  a 
young  candidate  for  orders,  of  a  problem  that  at  that  time  so  ngitatt-d 
the  diocese  of  Virginia — the  ultimate  tendency  of  the  Oxford  Tract 
^lovement. 

In  the  year  1850  I  found  myself  with  Dr.  Atkinson  iu  the  House 
of  I)ei)uties,  Avhere  he  was  conspicuous  as  a  leader,  and  we  have  ever 
since  been  associated  in  one  or  the  other  house  of  the  General  Conven- 
tion. When  he  was  consecrated,  I  was  his  attending  Presbyter  :  pres- 
ently he  preached  the  sermon  at  my  own  consecration,  and  afterwards  I 
discharged  the  same  duty  in  this  pulpit,  at  the  consecration  of  his  assist- 
iint  and  successor. 

In  time  of  peace,  and  time  of  war,  we  have  been  associated  \w 


BISHOP  ATKimON. 


council  and  committee,  acting  together  in  critical  circumstances,  and 
uniformly  agreeing  as  to  the  great  principles  of  ecclesiastical  adminis- 
tration. 

FAMILY  AFFFX'TION. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  noted  that  Bishop  Atkinson  laid  much 
stress  upon  the  ties  of  kinship.  No  man  \vas  more  free  from  the  weak- 
ness of  courting  the  great  and  the  wealthy,  or  from  the  affectation  of 
pretending  to  be  the  su})erior  of  his  neighbors  in  birth  or  social  position. 
But  he  held  that  family  connection  with  worthy  people  of  the  past  and 
the  present  is  a  privilege  to  be  duly  recognized. 

A  year  before  his  death,  in  the  little  cathedral  chapel  at  Easton,he 
expounded  the  salutations  in  the  last  chapter  of  Romans.  He  read  the 
verses,  "  Salute  Andronicus  and  Junia,  my  kinsmen  ;"  "  salute  Herodion 
mv  kinsman "  Lucius  and  Jason  and  Sosipater,  my  kinsmen,  salute 
you." 

"See,"  he  said,  how  much  stress  the^ apostle  lays  upon  the  family 
tie!"  And  so  everywhere-  In  the  Gospels  the  relationship  of  apostles 
to  each  other  is  told  us.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  James  is  our 
Lord's  brother,  John  ]Mark  is  sister's  son  to  Barnabas.  I  can  but  think 
it  is  a  Christian  duty  to  recognize  and  to  value  these  bonds  of  kinship. 
When  pe^)ple  boast  that  they  do  not  care  for  their  relations  and  connec- 
tions more  than  for  other  people,  it  only  proves  that  they  have  cold 
hearts  and  care  little  for  any  one  but  themselves." 

And  surely  he  was  right  in  this  position.  It  does  widen  our  hearts 
and  broaden  our  sympathies  thus  to  love  our  kindred.  It  is,  beyond  all 
doubt,  a  restraint  upon  the  young  to  know  that  they  bear  a  name  which 
has  never  been  dishonored,  and  that  any  misdeed  of  theirs  will  carry 
personal  mortification  into  an  extensive  circle  of  relatives  and 
connections. 

CATHOLIC  PRINCIPLES  AND  CHKISTIAX  CHAEITIES. 

In  an  age  of  unhappy  religious  divisions,  discrepancies  of  doctrine 
and  of  discipline  do  often  seriously  mar  the  intimacies  of  the  family  and 
the  friendships  of  social  life. 

As  a  churchman  Bishop  Atkinson  occupied  no  uncertain  position. 
He  held  that  the  constitution  of  the  Church  was  divine,  imposed  upon 
her  by  her  Lord,  and  not  to  l^e  changed  in  the  discretion  of  men.  He 
maiDtained  that  its  goveniment  was  vested  in  the  Bishops,  and  that  the 


8.  IX  MEMORIAM. 


authority  to  rule  the  Cluircli  of  God  lias  been  duly  transmitted  from  age 
to  age  in  the  line  of  an  apostolic  succession. 

He  affirmed  that  the  Church,  in  the  long  centuries  of  her  triumphs 
and  her  martyrdoms,  was  one  body,  known  everywhere  as  the  one  holy, 
catholic,  and  apostolic  Church,  with  no  lines  of  difference  or  demarca- 
tion save  those  of  nationality.  In  the  denominational  arrangement 
which  recognizes  no  other  bond  than  a  common  acceptance  of  evangeli- 
cal truth,  he  C(^uld  not  recognize  the  original,  organic  unity  of  the  one 
Bride,  the  undefiled.  He  held  and  maintained  very  ])ertin{i('i()usly  that 
the  national  Church  of  England,  as  a  historic  Church,  as  a  corporation 
which  has  never  forfeited  the  charter  of  the  Lord,  bears  the  symbols  of 
authority,  and  is  entitled  to  the  spiritual  allegiance  of  the  nativ-n  where 
.-lie  resides.  He  claimed  for  the  daughter  Church  of  America  like 
authority  over  the  nationality  which  sprang  from  the  loins  of  England. 

Holding  these  views,  he  could  not  and  he  did  not  unite  in  official 
ministrations  with  the  clergy,  however  beloved  and  respected,  of  other 
religious  bodies. 

Is  it  possible,  ^ve  are  often  asked,  that  a  wise  and  good  man  can 
adhere  to  these  convictions,  when  they  require  him  to  lock  up  his  sym- 
])athies,  to  shut  his  eyes  to  the  noble  zeal  and  heroic  deeds  of  Protestant 
Christendom,  to  deny  in  the  teeth  of  incontrovertible  facts  the  blessing 
and  power  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  upon  so-called  irregular  ministra- 
tions ? — when  they  force  him  on,  so  to  speak,  technical  grounds,  to  deny 
his  brotherhood  with  the  meek  and  loving  ones  over  whom  his  Lord 
pronounced  the  beatitudes  ? 

If  results  like  these  did  indeed  follow  practically  and  logically 
from  the  nuiintenance  of  what  are  known  as  catholic  principles,  it  would 
be  an  argument  against  their  truth. 

As  a  matter  of  fact.  Bishop  Atkinson,  with  all  his  uncompromising 
adherence  to  his  ideal  of  the  Catholic  Cluu-ch,  the  Ciiurch  as  it  was  in 
faith,  in  doctrine,  iij  ecclesiastical  order,  before  the  division  of  the  East 
and  West,  did  cultivate  the  largest  Chi'istian  sym])athies.  In  every 
one  who  loved  his  Lord  and  exhibited  the  image  of  His  holy  character, 
he  recognized  a  brother.  So  far  from  disparaging  religious  excellence, 
he  recognized  it,  and  rejoiced  in  it  wherever  it  was  found,  In  those 
systems  and  organizations  with  which  he  could  not  personally  co-operate, 
he  was  the  last  to  deny  the  merit  of  their  administrative  liiethods,  the 
activity  of  their  zeal,  or  the  beneficial  results  of  their  ministrations. 
Himself  unwavering  in  his  convictions,  he  did  not  pronounce  those  who 
differed  from  him  wrong-headed  or  bad-hearted.    The  proof  of  all  this 


BISHOP  ATKINSON. 


9. 


is  found  in  his  affectionate  relations  with  many  not  of  our  communion, 
in  the  absence  of  all  bitterness  in  his  teachings,  in  the  respect  and  kind- 
ness entertained  for  him  by  persons  of  all  denominations  in  his  diocese. 
And  was  he  illogical  in  this  ?  Did  the  instincts  of  the  heart  prevail 
over  the  mistaken  convictions  of  a  partisan  judgment?  Remembering 
how  remarkable  he  was  for  his  love  of  the  truth,  for  subordinating 
everything  to  the  truth,  for  following  out  the  truth  to  all  its  consequen- 
ces, we  might  well  hesitate  to  believe  that  he  indulged  sympathies  which 
could  not  be  reconciled  with  his  intellectual  convictions.  Long  years 
ago  he  called  my  attention  to  a  sermon  of  William  Archer  Butler's  on 
the  compatibility  of  catholic  principles  with  Christian  charity.  He  in- 
dorsed it,  as  fully  expressing  his  own  mind,  and  dwelt  upon  the  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  which  he  experienced  in  finding  his  own  convictions 
directly  formulated  and  forcibly  argued. 

It  is  not  illogical  to  hold  that  division  is  in  itself  a  sin  and  a  dis- 
grace, while  we  believe  that  with  the  many,  it  is  a  misfortune  rather 
than  a  fault.  The  many  are  guiltless  of  any  purpose  to  disregard  the 
ecclesias^cal  economy  derived  from  our  dear  Lord,  or  to  disturb  that 
unity  for  which  He  prayed.  They  are  following  the  examples  of  their 
fathers  and  mothers,  and  seeking  to  work  out  their  salvation  amid  the 
surroundings  into  which  they  were  born. 

It  is  not  illogical  to  hold  that  Almighty  God  has  certain  channels  for 
the  transmission  of  His  spiritual  graces,  and  that  our  personal  safety  and  a 
just  regard  to  the  highest  interests  of  humanity  require  that  we  should 
stand  in  the  old  paths,  that  we  should  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith 
once  delivered  and  for  the  order  once  universally  prevalent,  and  that  by 
divine  warrant :  it  is  not  illogical,  I  claim,  holding  these  principles,  to 
believe  with  Archer  Butler,  that  God  binds  us  but  not  Himself  by  these 
prescriptions,  that  there  is  a  merciful  accommodation  to  altered  circum- 
stances, however  they  may  have  originated  in  a  fault,  so  that  grace  is 
not  frustrated  by  reason  of  our  innovations  and  irregularities.  If  an 
artery  be  obliterated,  whether  by  misfortune  or  by  fault,  it  doth  not 
follow  that  circulation  must  cease  in  the  unhappy  member.  The  physi- 
cal  amistouiosis  luis  its  analogue  in  the  realm  of  spirit.  We  cannot  agree 
that  separation  from  the  one  catholic  body  of  Christ,  which  is  in  itself 
an  evil,  and  is  to  the  individual  a  grievous  loss,  does  either  in  logic  or 
in  fact  make  void  the  gracious  purpose  of  our  Father  in  Christ  Jesus. 
God  forbid  that  in  our  zeal  for  order  and  authority,  we  should  deny  that 
God's  word  is  efficacious  as  spoken  by  earnest  men  of  other  orders  or 
of  no  orders  at  all !    God  forbid  that  we  should  deny  that  grace  is  con- 


10. 


IN  31EM0RIAM. 


t'erred  to  godly  people  in  sacra meuts  ministered  otherwise  than  as  we 
wonld  dare  to  minister  them  !  God  forbid  that  the  most  faithful  bishop 
or  priest  should  be  unwilling  to  accept  the  lesson  of  humility  and  benev- 
olence from  any  saintly  man,  howbeit  in  his  view  church  organization  is 
matter  of  mere  expediency  or  preference  ! 

One  of  Bishop  Atkinson's  firmest  convictions,  founded,  as  he 
tliought,  on  the  general  consent  of  the  primitive  Church,  was  that  every 
baptism,  by  whomsoever  administered,  where  the  matter  and  the  form  are 
used,  is  a  valid  baptism,  and  that  the  person  so  baptized  becomes  there- 
by a  member  of  the  catholic  body  of  Christ. 

He  told  me  that  in  St.  Peter's  church,  Baltimore,  Avhen  a  child  was 
presented  for  baptism,  there  was  a  hesitancy  in  replying  to  the  prelimin- 
ary (piestions.  On  inquiry,  it  appeared,  that  at  its  birth  the  child's  life 
seemed  to  be  in  danger,  and  that  the  physician,  of  his  own  motion,  hasti- 
ly applied  the  water  and  pronounced  the  formula.  Bishop  Atkinson 
affirmed  this  baptism  sufficient,  and  refused  to  repeat  it 

Catholic  principles  may  consist  with  Christian  charity.  I  Ijjiow  of  no 
life  which  more  than  our  departed  father's  was  a  proof  and  illustration 
of  this  proposition. 

His  parents  were  Church  of  England  peo}>le  :  they  lived  and  died 
in  our  communion. 

But  in  their  day  the  Church  wai^  at  its  lowest  point  of  coldness  and 
indifference.  There  were  some  able  and  earnest  men  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  especially  Dr.  John  H,  Rice  and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rice,  who 
labored  with  much  success  in  Southern  Virginia  in  awakening  men  to 
religious  earnestness.  The  Atkinsons,  while  they  adhered  to  the  Parish 
Church,  and  there  frequented  the  Holy  Communion  three  times  a  year, 
came  under  the  influence  of  these  ministers,  and  were  largely  guided  by 
them  in  their  spiritual  life.  Bishop  Atkinson  was  baptized  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church  :  some  of  the  children  later  born  received  baptism  at  the 
hands  of  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  thus  the  family  became  divided. 
The  Bishop  and  two  of  his  brothers  remained  in  the  Church  of  their 
fathers  :  while  three  of  the  brothers,  of  whom  two  survive,  took  Presby- 
terian orders,  and  have  been  beloved  and  efficient  ministers  in  that 
communion.  The  sisters  are  divided,  in  like  manner,  in  their  ecclesias- 
tical relations. 

I  have  heretofore  inti united  that  love  of  kindred  was  a  passion  with 
Bishop  Atkinson.  It  could  not  but  be  a  pain  and  grief  'to  all  the  mem- 
bers of  the  family,  that  in  anything  which  affected  their  religious  life, 
there  should  be  (lifference  of  opinion.    But  no  shadow  ever  came,  by 


BISHOP  ATKIXSOX. 


11. 


reason  of  such  dirtereiice,  over  the  jjeace  aii<l  happiness  of  their  huiiie.-. 
I  doubt  whether  in  all  the  land  could  be  found  a  large  family  of  broth- 
ers and  sisters  S(j  devoted  to  each  other,  so  delighting  in  each  other's 
company,  so  sympathizing  in  each  others  joys  and  sorrows,  so  ready  to 
seek  fraternal  advice,  so  free  to  utter  all  their  minds  on  all  subjects  at 
each  other's  fireside,  kindly  and  courteously  but  without  reserve. 

^ly  brethren,  let  us  not  be  frightened  because  the  world  deems  any 
definiteness  of  belief  to  imply  uncharitableness.  Charity  is  not  indif- 
ferentism.  Charity,  while  it  makes  the  largest  toleration  for  individual 
infirmities,  dares  not  be  liberal  in  dealing  with  truth  and  duty.  But  1 
may  best  conclude  this  part  of  the  subject  in  the  Bishop's  own  words. 
Said  he,  in  a  published  sermon  :  "  Be  assured,  in  order  to  be  right,  in 
order  to  be  safe,  it  is  not  enough  to  be  sincere  ;  it  is  necessary  to  hold 
the  truth  sincerely.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  truth,  whatever  skeptics, 
whatever  sensualists  may  say  to  the  contrary. 

"  It  has  an  existence  independent  of  all  that  men  think  concerning 
it.  If  we  shut  our  eyes  to  the  sun,  we  do  not  extinguish  it  thereby — it 
still  shines  on  ;  so,  if  we  remain  ignorant  of  the  truth  or  reject  it,  it  .still 
subsi^its — nay,  if  the  whole  world  agrees  to  deny  it,  it  still  subsists.  It 
is  indeed  immortal.  Eeligious  truth  is  the  transcript  of  the  eternal 
ideas  in  the  mind  of  God.  Error  is  of  the  earth,  earthy.  Error  is 
perishable.  .  .  .  AVell  then  may  the  wise  man  say,  Buy  the  truth 
and  sell  it  not.  Buy  it  at  any  price  ;  sell  it  at  no  price.  Buy  it  with 
toil,  with  obloquy,  with  suffering,  with  danger  ;  sell  it  not  for  money, 
nor  fame,  nor  safety,  nor  popularity,  nor  life.  " 

THE  EPISCOPATE.  ITS  POWERS  A^'D  DUTIES. 

I  pass  on  to  consider  our  departed  father,  as  a  bishop  in  the  Church 
of  God,  and  of  the  influence  he  exerted  as  priest  and  bishop,  in  vindi- 
'•ating  the  just  prerogatives  of  the  episcopal  office. 

The  American  Church,  after  emerging  from  her  colonial  dependenct 
entered  upon  her  career  under  many  disadvantages. 

For  all  practical  uses,  there  had  been  in  the  colonies  no  ecclesiasti- 
cal disci])line  or  subordination.  The  canonical  oversight  of  the  Bishoj) 
of  Loudon  was  almost  a  fiction.  The  Church  was  nondescript  and 
acephalous.  An  Episcopal  Church  without  a  bishop  is  the  very  worst 
form  of  Congregationalism.  Xo  wonder  that  the  clergy,  hitherto  free 
from  any  rule  or  oversight,  should  regard  with  jealousy  and  alarm  the 
elevation  of  one  of  their  number  to  a  superior  position. 

-  Tract*  fbr  Miss.  Use,  Xa  l/'What  is  Truth  ?''  p.  1^^ 


/.V  MFJIoniAM 


Thf  i|iit'.-rii)ii  of  the  onlinnl,  "  you  reverently  ohey  your 

(>I>?""  was  (listnsteful  to  republican  ears;  it  was  easy  to  invent  casuistry, 
still  much  in  favor,  whereby  the  solemn  pledge  should  be  emptied  of  all 
irs  significance.  Sonic  would  make  it  to  mean,  not  that  the  first  impulse 
.-hall  be  to  follow  with  a  iilad  mind  and  will  the  Bishop's  o()dly  admo- 
iiitions,  and  to  submit  one's  self  to  his  godly  judgment,  as  a  dutiful 
child  res])eets  tlie  advice  and  judgment  of  his  father;  but  this  instead  : 
I  will  reluctantly  obey  tlie  Bishop  when  disobedience  threatens  to  entail 
I'cch'siastical  censure  or  deprivation.  Thus  there  grew  up  the  theory 
that  the  I^ishop  has  no  rights  of  fatherhood  inherent  in  his  high  com- 
mission, l)ut  is  the  niei'e  creature  of  the  canon.  He  primus  inter  pares, 
aj)pointed  to  discharge  certain  ministerial  functions.  He  has  indeed  the 
care  of  all  the  churches,  but  with  the  exception  of  some  definite  official 
acts,  must  be  the  curate,  not  the  chief  pastor,  in  any  particular  church 
where  he  ofKciates.  In  the  fear  of  episcopal  despotism,  the  office  was 
in  danger  of  being  robbe(l  of  all  its  efhciency. 

The  contest  over  the  just  rights  and  dignity  of  the  episc()])ate  had  to 
be  fuight,  and  in  the  providence  of  (ro<l,  William  Uollinson  Wliitting- 
ham  was  called  to  be  the  champion  for  this  principle  :  I  may  say  the 
martyi"  for  it. 

Me  had  thrown  himself  into  his  ofHce  with  wondrous  zeal  aud  ener- 
gy. Fi>v  a  time  the  growth  and  new  inspiration  of  the  diocese  attested 
the  Hiight  which  is  inherent  in  a  vigorous  government  sustained  by 
.-spiritual  earnestness.  And  then  there  grew  up  a  resistance  to  the  exer- 
cise of  what  he  deemed  the  absolutely  essential  privileges  of  his  ofhce, 
>  i)ersistent  and  obstructive  that  it  robbed  his  work  of  its  sweetness, 
and  entailed  upon  him  a  life-long  sorrow. 

This  controversy  was  the  burning  (|UCstion  at  the  General  Convention 
of  I'SoO,  and  at  that  Convention  and  '•w  the  preceding  Diocesan  Conven- 
tion of  Maryland,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Dr.  Atkinson,  then  rector  of  St. 
Peter's,  to  vindicate  the  true  ideal  of  the  ofhce  of  a  bishop. 

If  tliese  two  fathers  had  no  other  claim  upon  the  Church's  grati- 
[ude.  they  would  deserve  to  be  ever  held  in  honor,  for  averting  so  great 
:i  calamity  as  that  of  the  degradation  of  the  episcopate. 

In  this  Maryland  controversy  of  it  was  maintained''  that  the 

l>ish()])  had  no  right  to  administer  the  Holy  Communion  at  his  visitation  ; 
and,  indeed,  that  "a  ])i'Oj)ei"  respect  for  the  just  influence  of  his  office  as 


"  Vide  tin-  coiTcspoiuU-in  c  in  AiijHMulix  to  the  Murvluiitl  .b»uriiul  of  tho  C'uu- 
\  •uti(»n      that  war. 


] 


a  }>rt'sl)yter  of  tliis  Churcir'  iU'tiially  forbade  tlu-  rector  t(j  "vacate  tii* 
truf^t  of  such  adiniiiistratioii."  It  was  held  that  while  the  law  forbaci- 
the  celebration  by  the  bisho}),  it  was  sik-ut  in  respect  to  the  use  of  tli- 
pulpit  and  desk  ;  these  the  bishop  might  occu})y  at  his  visitation,  bii 
only  by  the  courtesy  of  the  incumbent. 

^laryland  will  not  soon  forget  the  niagnific-^'nt  debate  which  cnsiUMi 
both  sides  being  represented  by  men  of  extraordinary  ability.  J)r 
Atkinson  was  the  author  of  the  report,  and  moved  the  resolutions  .-u- 
taining  tiie  bishop,  which  were  adopted  by  an  overwhelming  majority 

I  consider  this  report  one  of  the  most  important  utterances  ev.  , 
given  to  the  American  Church.  The  argument  is  thii-  c  )iicisely  e.\- 
))ressed  : 

"Your  committee  is  of  opinion  that  the  true  sohition  (if  tliejie  questions  does  m 
rest  on  any  mere  verbal  criticyims  of  Canons  and  iJuhrics,  although  entirely  consi-: 
ent  with  the  results  of  sueli  criticism,  when  rightly  employed.    Their  truesohnl 
rests  on  principles  nnich  deeper  and  more  vital ;  principles  which  lie  at  the  foum 
tion  of  the  Church  itself.    In  reasoning  with  cliurchmen  it  is  lawful,  it  is  indeed  cm: 
respectful  to  them,  to  take  as  axioms  those  truths  which  the  Churcli  clearly  mail 
tains,  however  they  may  be  doubted  or  denied  by  those  out  of  her  pale.  AnuuiL^ 
such  truths  are  the  following: 

"1st.  That  Bishops  are  successors  to  the  apostles  in  the  ordinary  powers  of  theiij 
office,  tliough  not  in  tlie  extraordinary  qualiticati(ms  and  endowments  of  tluise  tii-  ; 
ministei-s  of  Christ.  | 

"2d.  That  as  such  the  apostolic  commission  embraces  them,  and  that  they  t<  '< ' 
are  enjoined  and  authorized  to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  teiich  or  di.sciple  all  nations 
ha^jtizing  them  in  tlie  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  8on,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  i 

"od.  That  consequently,  Bisliops,  as  sueli,  have  the  right  to  i)reach,  and  to  admii,-: 
ister  the  Sacraments,  as  well  as  rule  in  the  Church.  i 

"4th.  That  these  episcopal  rights  are  to  be  exercised  in  their  didceses,  thest-i  e  ; 
ing  their  appointed  fields  of  labor.  I 

"  otli.  That  c(inse([uently,  every  Bishoj)  has  a  riglu  to  }»reach  and  administer  tin 
Sacraments  in  his  diocese,  inde[)endently  of  any  paroeJiial  cure  wliich  may  be  iu-! 
trusted  to  him:  and  in  every  part  of  his  diocese;  ftn-  if  tliere  be  any  part  of  his  di<  -| 
rese  in  which  he  eannot  exercise  episcopal  rights,  then  in  tkat  jiart  he  is  not  Bislio}>| 

"On  these  principles  tlte  Conmiittee  found  their  clear  conviction  of  the  genen-J 
right  and  authority  of  a  Bishop  to  preach,  or  to  administer  the  Sacraments,  and  i< 
rule  in  hi.s  wliole  diocese  and  in  every  part  of  it.  It  would  seem  a  necessary  conehi- 
sion  that,  if  there  be  a  church  in  a  diocese  in  which  the  Bishop  can  never  preacli  (  j| 
administer  the  Sacraments  and  the  like,  without  being  in  each  piitticular  instance  pre-i 
vionsly  authorized  by  another,  that  he  really  has  not  epi.scopal  power  in  that  clurrcJi. 
It  may  })e  asked,  is  there  no  limitation  to  these  principles?  Can  a  Bishop  at  any 
time,  in  any  part  of  liis  diocese,  perform  any  ministerial  act  lie  pleases?  The  C(mi-| 
mittee  Avill  not  keep  back  tlieir  belief  that  in  thebeginning  it  was  even  so — that  intliti 
eiu'liest  days  of  the  Church  Presbyters  did  not  preach  wlien  Bisliops  were  present,j 
and  that,  a.s  we  are  tauiiht  by  the  learned  Bingham,  it  was  a  notable  event  wiii-n  S: 


14. 


\ugustine,  w  hile  still  ;i  I'l-cshyter,  was  permitted  to  preach  in  the  presence  of  tlic 
I)isiiop.  Tlie  institution  of  tlie  pantchial  system  has,  however,  produced  a  miuhty  rev- 
olution in  the  relations  of  Iiisho[)s  and  Preshyters.  Preshyters  are  now  made  respon- 
sil)le  for  the  spiritual  state  of  the  souls  in  their  parishes,  and  their  power  nuist  bear 
some  relation  to  their  responsibility.  Tiie  (Committee  conseciuently  <'onceive  that  the 
mere  presence  of  a  Bisliop  does  not,  by  the  existing  established  systeu)  of  the  Church, 
take  away  tlie  right  and  duty  of  a  Presbyter  to  teach  in  his  own  person,  and  adminis- 
ter the  Sacraments  by  his  own  handsto  thp  people  of  his  charge.  Andyettiie  Bisho}). 
on  the  principles  tirst  laid  down,  must  also  liave  the  right  to  teach  and  administer  the 
Sacraments  in  every  part  of  his  diocese.  Tliese  apparently  conflicting  rights  are,  as 
tlie  Conunittee  Ijelieve,  perfectly  reconciled  in  the  admirable  system  of  the  Church  by 
confining  the  Bishop  in  the  exercise  of  his,  to  those  com])aratively  rare  occasions,  on 
which  lie  goes  officially,  in  his  very  episcopal  cluiracter,  in  visitation  of  a  parish.  If 
lie  have  it  not  then,  he  never  has  it,  and  one  of  two  conclusions  nuist  follow  ;  either 
that  the  Bishop,  as  such,  is  not  authorized  to  preach  and  administer  the  Sacraments, 
or  tluit  being  thus  authorized  by  his  very  office,  this  authority  is  afterwards  taken 
from  him  by  the  Rubrics  and  Canons  which  regulate  that  office.  Are  we  to  believe  the 
Church  lias  so  stultified  herself?  and  that,  having  in  the  Consecration  Office  given 
these  powers  in  obedience  to  Scripture,  the  moment  the  Consecration  is  complete,  slie 
takes  them  away  by  the  Rubrics  and  Canons  which  she  has  enacted,  anrl  which  tlu- 
nisho})  is  bound  to  observe?" 

To  these  principles  the  Bishop,  when  presently  called  to  presich 
over  a  diocese,  conformed  his  own  action.  He  ruled  his  people  pru- 
dently, with  all  his  power:  not  angrily,  harshly,  capriciously,  or  in  the 
way  of  meddlesome  interference  with  the  just  freedom  and  discretion  of 
the  clergy  and  laity  ;  not  with  episcopal  pretension  ;  no  man  was  moi-e 
free  from  the  vanity  and  arrogance  of  official  self-assertion.  He  miulii 
well  have  taken  as  the  motto  of  his  episcoi^ate  the  aphorism  of  Lord  P);i- 
con,  "  Assert  the  right  of  thy  place,  but  voice  it  not  with  useless  chal- 
lenges. "  But  rule  he  did,  firmly,  gently,  manfully.  In  things  indiffer- 
ent or  doubtful,  or  where  the  law  was  silent,  he  required  that  the  godly 
judgment  of  the  chief  i)astor  should  prevail  over  the  discordant  opinions 
of  the  many  pastors.  I  said  he  ruled  numfully.  He  respected  the 
manhood  of  his  clergy  as  well  as  his  own.  He  ruled  with  a  dignity,  a 
sympathy,  a  reasonableness,  a  high  courtesy,  which  f()r])ade  any  sens(^ 
of  humiliation  in  submitting  to  authority. 

He  had  once  occasion  to  set  out  in  order  his  ideal  of  a  faithful  epis- 
.  opate.    He  said  : 
• 

"  T!ie  Church  which  received  the  truth  from  Christ,  wdiich  can  itself  neither 
make  it  nor  reveal  it,  has  yet  the  high  mission  of  guarding  it  and  teaching  it.  She 
has  systematized  the  teachings  of  Scripture,  incorporated  those  wdiich  are  essential  to 
salvation  into  her  Creeds,  and  wrought  these  and  other  truths  into  the  very  texture  of 


BISHOP  ATKINSON.  l  l. 


her  Liturgy  and  offices.  Xow  it  is  a  part  ol"  a  ]jisln)p's  duty  to  .uuard  this  jij-eci<ius 
deposit. 

"  In  tlie  midst  of  nuitable  opinions,  open  to  change  at  every  Jiouj-,  whether  the 
cliange  be  ordained  by  the  Foj)e  at  Rome,  or  tlie  Pope  in  the  indivichial  s  own  bosom, 
(rod  has  seen  tit,  in  llis  mysterious  sovereignty,  to  entrust  thin  Chuirli  witli  a  stal)lo 
and  delinite  Creed,  the  very  truth  as  taught  by  C'lirist  and  His  Apostles,  as  received 
and  transmitted  by  tliat  body  which  He  lias  protnised  never,  never,  nevei-  (<•  inisake! 
This  truth  it  isa  Bishop's  office  to  guard,  and  Ids  diuy  to  dilliise. 

"Again,  it  belongs  To  the  office  of  a  Bishop,  not  only  to  guar-l  the  tl  tc.r'ne  of  th  j 
*  hurch,  but  to  lalxn'  direcrly  for  the  souls  of  men.  liishops  are  rulers  in  the  C'iuirch 
of  God,  but  they  are  likewise  Pastors,  whose  business  it  is  to  feed  the  Mock.  There  is 
danger  that  in  our  own  minds,  as  well  a.s  in  the  o})inion  of  the  nudtitude,  the  former 
relation  may  overshadow  and  even  thrust  out  the  latter.  The  Bi,sho})S  of  the  {)rim- 
itive  Church  were  pre-eminently  Pastors,  only  secondarily  rulers.  In  the  media-val 
period,  when  dioceses  were  inordinately  enlarged,  and  became  the  objects  of  secular 
ambition,  the  otiice  of  ruler  absorbed  every  other  appertaining  to  the  order.  Men 
held  iiKue  than  <>nc  diocese,  and  even  dioceses  in  more  than  one  country,  and  even 
i-hildrcii  were  made  BLshops,  as  children  nnght  succeed  to  a  lordi;hip.  This  abuse 
tended  to  bi-ing  about,  and  in  some  degree  to  justify  the  introduction  of  the  Presby- 
terian system,  and  so  obstinate  are  old  traditions  and  old  habits  of  thought,  that  we 
have  scarcely  yet  learned  to  feel  how  direct  ought  to  be  the  relation  between  a  Bish- 
op and  his  flock,  how  immediately  he  ought  to  feed  them,  and  not  merely  by  the 
liands  of  others,  how  individual  should  be  his  acquaintance  with  them,  how  he  ought 
to  know  his  own  sheep  byname.  A  Bishop  ought  to  be  a  preacher  to  his  diocese, 
whose  voice  Ls  tamiliar  in  every  part  of  it ;  of  all  preachers,  he  ought  to  be  the  most 
earnest,  the  mo.st  self-renouncing,  the  mo-st  studious  to  win  souls. 

"But  if  we  value  souLs,  we  mast  ase  all  suitable  means  to  win  them,  and  one 
surely  of  the  most  efficacious?  of  these  is,  by  simple,  earnest,  loving,  thoughtful,  in- 
structive preaching.  \nd  what  an  oppoi  tunity  of  doing  good  in  this  way  is  put  into 
the  hand'-  (if  :i  IVislio)'!  AVheJ'eve]'  he  g-'c-.  multitudes  of  people  flock  to  hear  bin i. 
lie  may  be  a  gil'ted  preacher  nv  \w  may  ).i(it.  Inn  :ii  any  rate  he  is  their  Brshop,  thei)' 
<^'hief  Pastor.  He  speaks  with  authority.  Every  word  rightly  spoken  by  him  tells. 
The  people  look  to  him  with  confidence  for  their  food.  How  necessary,  then,  that  lu 
shoidd  be  prepared  to  distribute  this  food,  the  sincere  milk  of  tlie  ivord.  the  bread  o.t 
life.  Xot  fos>il  skeleton-  (^did  sxthious  which  he  has  dug  up  out  of  his  closet,  from 
which  all  life  has  (Jejwrted,  if  ever  they  had  life;  not  the  hard  stones  of  controversy 
with  which  to  ])elt  opposers  ;  not  the  jpliitff'cjf  mere  declamation  ;  not  the  vapid  flowers 
of  a  gaudy  rhetoric,  but  the  bread  of  life,  carefully  searched,  and,  as  far  as  may  be, 
winnowed  from  error;  divine  truth  taught  positively,  tauglit  with  aufliority,  with 
reference  to  the  wants  and  dangers  of  his  immediate  bearers,  their  pectdiar  duties  and 
temptations. 

*  *  -^f  -;f  -.T  -:<■  -.i  -:f  -h- 

"  And  at  the  ^ame  time  that  the  Bishop  is  a  shepherd  over  the  flock,  he  is  to  be 
the  ruler  and  the  overseer  of  the  other  shepherds.  These  he  is  to  cheer,  and  strengthen, 
:ind  encourage,  and  at  the  same  time  direct, and.  if  need  be,  restrain.    A  Bishop  ought 


10.  jy  MEMO  111  AM 

III  liiivc,  to  Iti'l'iilly  litU'd  tor  his  work,  :i  syiu{»atlii/,iu<i'  nature,  to  bo  able-  to  weep  wit  1' 
iIkmu  that  \v(vi>,  and  rejoice  witli  them  that  rejoice.  His  brethren  of  tiie  ck  ruv  shotilc 
reco<i;nize  in  liim  their  truest  friend,  and  apply  to  him  si)ontane(Hisly  for  counsel  anc 
for  consolation.  And  yet,  with  the  <jentleness  of  a  father,  there  should  be  the  autiior- 
ity  and  lirmness  of  a  ruler;  and  these  latter  (pialities  are  the  more  ueces,s;uy  in  oui 
•  lav,  beea  ise  so  jilainly  the  leadeiicy  ainon<i;  us  is  to  break  down  all  authority.  A 
liisliop,  with  his  entire  L'.i  u-j!i,  ma\'  have  to  opp  )si  hiiusjlf  to  a  }))werfalau  l  tlireat- 
eniuii  woi-ld.  II  '  mav  liave  to  stand  up  with  his  i'lerii;\' u'^ainst  the  laity.  He  nurv 
have,  hardest  trial  of  all,  to  stand  up  against  his  clergy,  for  he  nni.^t  stand  up  Hiipn'tiicli 
fir  his  Master,  \Vh')se  stewanl  he  is.  How  difficult  in  this  offi-e  to  be  faithful !  Xeec 
we  wonder  that  the  ancient  RislK)ps  are  said  s).netinies  to  have  (led  frv>ni  those  wh< 
s  )Ught  to  c)nsecrate  them  ?"'^ 

I  cannot  donUt  that  niy  l^-ctliren  of  Xortii  C-ivolina  will  recognizf 
in  these  Mords  u  faithful  picture  of  the  spirit  and  of  the  methods  whicl' 
i'h:iruct.u*i/.e(]  the  epi.se )pate  of  him  who  so  hm^^  presided  over  them. 


THE  OXFORD  MOVKMEXT. 

Having  thus  considered  Bishop  Atkinson's  share  in  resisting  an} 
attenipt  to  detract  from  the  catholic  features  of  the  Church,  we  nui} 
well  |)roceed  to  notice  his  position  in  connection  with  a  drift  of  thoughi 
in  an  opposite  direction. 

Th-e  Oxfonxl  Tract  movement  has  in  the  last  half  century  exertec 
in  the  Church  a  wonderful  influence  for  good,  not  unmixed  howevei 
with  grave  evils. 

Froiti  the  very  fii>>t,  our  Bishop  reeogiiiz,ed  the  value  of  this  move 
luent,  and  sym]3athiz.ed  in  the  ])urposes  avowed.    So  far  as  it  taugh 
men  to  reverence  the  Primitive  Church,  and  to  accept  the  "  fpiod  .temper 
iibique  et  ab  omitibtt'^''  as  the  authoritative  ccjrreetive  of  a  vagrant  pri 
vate  judgment,  he  deemed   it    a  much  needed  revival.    So  far  as  if^^i 
utfirmed  the  grace  of  Holy  Biiptism:  so  far  as  it  affirmed  the  preeiou 
mystery  of  the  Eucharist,  that  Ahnighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Farherp. 
hath  given  His  Son  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  not  only  to  die  for  us,  bn 
ii/.so  to  be  our  spiritual  food  and  sustenance  in  that  Holy  Sacrament 
>*)  far  as  these  leadei-s  incited  men  to  load  a  life  of  devotior^,  habituall}|'it 
praying  in  the  house  of  God,  and  frequenting  His  Holy  Supper;  so  fari' 
as  they  ])ersuaded  them  to  resort  without  difhdeDoe  to  their  Pastors  foi 
advice  and  guidance  in  their  trials  ;  just  so  far  and  no  further  did  Bisho|[iit 
Atkinson  favor  the  new  teaching. 

i^ut  he  was  Anglican  to  the  b/ack-hone.    He  wsis  thoroughly  eonlnii 


^ecniou  at  a  consecvyxiou  in  Kiichuioud,  18oft. 


BISHOP  ATKIXSON, 


17. 


viiUM'd  tliat  til"  Aiiu'liciiii  lictoniiatitui  was  lu'cossarv  and  lawful,  and 
\va-  wisely  c  )ndiictiMl,  so  thtit  n  »  cathorK'  truth  whatever  is  d  'liied  or 
obscured  in  our  formularies. 

He  had  no  sympathy  with  the  formulas,  old  or  new,  whereb\  meii 
sou^-ht  to  explain  the  inexplicable,  and  to  defme  the  mode  of  the  Real 
Presence.  He  had  little  patience  with  that  extravagance  of  private 
judunient,  which  has  led  individuals  and  parties  to  pronounce  doctrines 
and  cereinoi<ies  to  be  catholic,  whereof  the  Church,  whose  commission 
they  bore,  had  given  them  no  authority  to  speak,  xluricular  confession 
he  regarded  as  the  crucial  question.  In  his  charge  to  the  diocese,  and 
in  his  reply  to  Archbishop  (ribbons  (a  reply  marked  by  chivalrou> 
courtesy  to  his  critic,  no  less  than  by  force  of  argument),  he  declared 

&  himself  invincibly  hostile  to  any  theory  of  confession  and  absolution 

■li  which  would  offer,  as  necessary  food,  ren)edifc5  only  profitable  for  the 
most  serious  maladies  of  the  spirit. 

Especially  was  he  offended  at  any  importation  of  the  Ligourian 
casuistry  into  this  Church.    No  human  ]:)ower  could  have  wrung  from 

^him  that  which  was  confided  to  him  in  ])riestly  confidence.    But  to  deny 
il]  knowledge  of  a  matter,  saying  to  himself,  I  know  it,  not  "id  Jwmo," 
•!)ut  "  at  Deii.^,''  he  would  have  scorned,  as  he  would  have  scorned  any 
jther  lie,  or  any  other  suggestion  that  the  God  of  Truth  is  to  be  served 

rt  with  lies- 

ei  Xot  that  he  specially  affected  the  name  "  Protestant."  With  out- 
)f  his  clear  convictions,  the  mere  protest  against  error  was  no  adequate 
^  lenoniijiation.  He  denied  the  false,  but  he  also  affirmed  the  true.  The 
hlAord  "  Catholic"  issued  from  his  lipi^  with  no  faltering  or  uncertain 
,r  round. 

•j.  In  his  sermon  eoinniemorative  of  the  late  Bishop  of  Maryland, 
il  Bishop  Atkinson  used  this  language  :  It  is  not  jrretended  that  he  liked 
^  •ituali.^tic  ceremonial:  his  mind  urns,  as  some  siqjjwse,  not  sufficiently  ce-dhet- 
Mf'e,  or  (IS  I  should  say,  too  masculine  for  that.'" 

„  I  ventured  to  tell  him,  at  the  time,  that  I  differed  from  him,  both  as 
t  ()  the  ikct,  and  the  explanation.  Certainly  Bishop  Whittingham  was  no 
1,'itualist,  in  the  party  sense,  but  he  had  [esthetic  taste,  and  he  was  nm- 
•j^dcian  enough  to  read  with  pleasure  the  sc(n-e  of  the  "  Messiah." 

Bishop  Atkinson  was  neither  musical,  nor  aesthetic.    In  his  lofty 
ijntellectuality  he  deemed  the  truth  in  her  own  simple  attire,  without 
my  extraneous  adornment,  beautiful  enough  to  win  the  homage  of  al! 
'  'uds  and  hearts,  provided  only  that  she  were  reverently  approached. 
But  I  rannot  thi])k  that  the  nj/jsculine  mind  jiecessarily  revolt- 


l.S.  IN  MEMORIAM 


f'Voin  tlu' ;o.-*tlietic  in  religion.  Surely  the  r^weet  singer  of  Israel  was  no 
ctteminate,  and  yet  we  cannot  repeat  his  psalms  without  feeling  that  he 
delighted  in  the  magnificent  procession,  the  swelling  chorus  of  many 
instruments  and  voices,  the  vesture  of  wrought  gold,  in  which  loving 
handmaids  delight  to  array  the  King's  daughter. 

I  freely  grant  that  we  have  need  to  guard  against  ceremonies  mis- 
leading or  meaningless  :  against  the  unauthorized,  the  extravagant,  the 
puerile.  But  if  this  Church  of  ours  is  to  do  her  utmost  work  in  the 
land,  she  must  be  inventive  of  expedients  to  win  attention  ^and  to  elicit 
the  affections.  Her  apples  of  gold  must  be  set  in  ]>i(*tui'es  »>f  silver, 
(ilory  and  beauty  must  characterize  the  adornments  of  the  sanctuary 
{tnd  the  sacred  services  therein. 

TJ I V:  (iP:NEKA L  ( "( )N V ENTION  OF  1860. 

1  have  been  admonished  that  any  memorial  of  Bishop  Atkinson 
would  be  imperfect  which  should  fail  to  make  mention  of  the  coming 
together,  which  he  chiefly  promoted,  of  the  dioceses,  temporarily  separa- 
t(Ml  by  civil  war. 

I  may  not  here  rehearse  the  story  in  order  :  the  time  forl^ids  ;  but 
.-ome  of  its  incudents  may  well  be  revived. 

The  war  ended,  the  South  lay  prostrate  and  disorganized,  and  com- 
niunication,  even  by  letter,  was  dilatory  and  uncertain.  But  it  ha])pen- 
('(1  that  the  Bisho])s  of  North  Carolina  and  of  Arkansas  had  an  oppoi-- 
tunity  of  personal  conference.  It  needed  but  a  moment  or  two  to  dis- 
cover that  we  were  alike  convinced,  that  after  the  fall  of  the  Confederate 
nationality,  there  no  longer  existed  any  raison  d'etre  for  a  Confederate 
Church,  and  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in  seeking  a  resumption  of  our 
organic  relations.  Thus  Bishop  Atkinson  set  forth  to  the  General 
Convention,  while  I  was  glad  to  follow  him,  hmid passibtts  wqm's. 

AVe  were  presently  in  very  delicate  and  embarrassing  circumstances, 
We  knew  well  that  we  exposed  ourselves  to  the  suspicion  of  rourtiiig^ 
the  winning  side,  and  of  leaving  in  the  lurch  brethren  in  mistortuiie, 
especially  in  Alal>ama,  where  the  churches  were  closed  hy  military 
edict. 

We  came  into  a  comnunnty  exultant  with  victory  and  enthusiastic- 
in  loyalty,  disposed  to  take  for  granted  that  to  return  was  to  a-k  for- 
L;i  venes*.  To  the  tact,  the  gentleness,  the  manly  outs])okem]»ess  of  Bishop 
Atkinson  the  Church  is  indebted  for  the  honorable  result  of  this  ven- 
ture. To  Bishops  Potter  and  Whittingliam,  who  witli  friendly  violence- 
lu-ough.t  us  back  to  our  seats  in  tlie  House  of  Bish.ops,  stau.diug  guard 


BISHOP  ATKINSON. 


19. 


over  us  to  shield  us  from  auy  possible  annoyance ;  to  Dr.  Kerfoot,  now 
the  Bishop  of  Pittsburgh,  and  then  a  deputy  from  Pennsylvania,  who 
resisted  any  action  discourteous  to  the  few  delegates  from  the  South  ;  to 
John  and  William  Welsh,  who  laded  us  with  hospitable  kindness,  we 
came  under  lasting  obligations. 

It  soon  appeared  that  the  Convention  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  all 
that  we  desired  in  behalf  of  our  absent  brethren. 

But  what  of  the  expected  peecavi  f  This  issue  could  not  be  avoided. 
Presently  Bishop  Burgess  of  ]\Iaine,  then  in  very  failing  health,  offered 
a  resolution  appointing  an  early  day  to  be  observed  as  a  Thanksgiving 
for  the  results  of  the  war.  Among  these  results,  as  specified  in  the  pre- 
amble, were  "  the  universal  establishment  of  the  authority  of  the  national 
Government,  "  and  also  "  the  extension  among  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men  of  the  J}lessings  of  freedom,  education,  culture  and  social  improvement''' 

At  the  hours  appointed  for  this  discussion  the  Southern  Bishops 
were  not  present.  During  a  recess.  Bishop  Burgess  came  to  my  desk 
and  complained,  affectionately  yet  earnestly,  of  the  marked  reflection 
upon  the  Bishops,  despite  the  evidence  given  of  their  fraternal  consid- 
eration, in  thus  declining  to  attend  the  debate. 

I  replied,  that  but  a  few  moments  before,  Bishop  Atkinson  had  said 
to  me,  that  the  brotherly  kindness  of  the  Bishops  had  been  such  as  we 
could  delight  to  remember  to  our  dying  day.  Some  of  them  (Bishop 
Burgess  knew  that  the  allusion  was  to  himself)  we  shall  never  see  again. 
They  are  now  discussing  a  resolution  in  which  we  cannot  agree,  and  will 
utter  sentiments  which  cannot  but  pain  us.  It  is  best  that  we  should 
not  hear  all  the  words  spoken. 

Bishop  Burgess  was  moved  by  these  kind  words.  Presently  he 
asked,  "  What  is  there  in  this  resolution  that  can  possibly  grieve  you 
I  pointed  to  the  words  "  extension  of  freedom."  I  trust  in  God,  I  said, 
that  freedom  may  bring  to  the  colored  race  all  the  blessings  you  antici- 
pate ;  but  wiser  men  than  I,  and  Northern  men  at  that,  honestly  doubt 
whether  freedom  will  prove  to  them  a  blessing  or  a  curse.  Why  should 
this  House  commit  itself  in  a  matter  wherein  it  has  no  authority  ? 

He  considered  a  moment,  dropped  down  into  a  seat,  and,  taking  a 
pen,  erased  from  his  resolution  the  words  objected  to.  Subsequently  he 
asked  leave  to  amend  it  by  inserting  the  clause,  "  and  gratefully  ac- 
knowledging the  special  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord  to  this  Church  in  the 
re-establi,-<hment  of  its  unity  throughout  the  land,  as  represerded  in  this 
National  Council.  " 

Upon  the  sixth  day,  Bishop  Whittingham  offered  a  substitute,  and 


20. 


on  the  motion  of  Bij^liop  Clarke  the  whole  matter  was  referred  to  a 
committee  consisting  of  the  five  senior  Bishops.  After  two  days,  this 
committee  reported  a  preamble  and  resolutions.  In  these  we  could  not 
possibly  concur. 

All  eyes  were  upon  Bishop  Atkinson  as  he  answered  the  appeal 
made  to  him.  He  knew  that  he  had  that  to  say  which  must  needs  be 
distasteful  to  men  full  of  exultation  at  the  Southern  downfall.  With  no 
diffidence  and  with  no  temper,  rather  with  the  frankness  of  a  child 
littering  his  thought,  he  opened  all  his  mind. 

"  We  are  asked,"  said  he,  "  to  unite  with  you  in  returning  thanks 
for  the  restoration  of  peace  and  unity.  The  former  we  can  say,  the 
latter  we  cannot  say. 

"We  are  thankful  for- the  restoration  of  })eace.  War  is  a  great 
evil.  ^  It  is  clear  to  my  mind  that  in  the  counsels  of  the  All-wise,  the 
issue  of  this  contest  was  pre-determined.  I  am  thankful  Uiat  the  ap- 
pointed end  has  come,  and  that  war  is  exchanged  for  peace.  But  we  are 
not  thankful  for  the  unity  described  in  tlic  resolution,  '  re-estdbh'.sJu'nr/  the 
(lathority  of  the  Xatioud  Government  ocer  all  the  landJ  We  acquiesce  in 
that  result.  We  will  accommodate  ourselves  to  it,  and  will  do  our  duty 
as  citizens  of  the  common  Government.  But  we  cannot  say  that  we  are 
thankful.  We  labored  and  prayed  for  a  very  different  termination,  and, 
if  it  had  seemed  good  to  our  Heavenly  Father,  would  have  been  very 
thankful  for  the  war  to  result  otlici  wise  than  it  has  resulted.  I  am 
willing  to  say  that  I  am  thankful  for  the  restoration  of  peace  to  the 

(X)IINTRY  AND  UNITY  TO  THE  ChURCH." 

These  words,  which  I  feel  very  sure  are  substantially  accurate,  well 
illustrate  how  he  labored  for  peace,  and  yet  with<jut  any  unmanly  con- 
cession whatsoever. 

His  language,  ''  in  eon.<kiemtion  of  the  return  of  j^eaee  to  the  country 
and  unity  to  the  Church/'  was  incorporated  in  a  substitute  offered  by 
Bishop  Stevens,  and  adopted  by  a  vote  of  sixteen  to  seven,  the  Southern 
Bishops  being  excused  from  voting.  Those  of  us  who  were  actors  in 
these  proceedings  were  ever  after  at  a  loss  suitably  to  express  our  ad- 
miration of  the  consideration  for  the  scruples  of  the  few  unfortunates,, 
displayed  by  the  majority  of  the  Bishops. 

It  deserves  to  be  noted  that  so  soon  as  we  had  resumed  our  seats  in 
tiie  House  of  Bishops,  General  Lee  wrote  to  us  a  letter  of  earnest  ap- 
proval and  sympathy. 

I  would  not  claim  for  Bishop  Atkinson  more  than  is  iiis  due. 
Doubtless  the  good  sense  and  the  good  feeling  of  the  Church  would 


•21. 


have  secured  the  same  result  after  a  few  years.  But  l)y  his  promptitude, 
by  the  fraiiknes.s  with  which  he  met  the  immediate  issues,  l)y  his  calm 
determiuatioii  to  allow  no  censure  to  be  cast  uixm  those  with  whom  he  had 
been  associated,  he  secured  a  speedy  adjustment  of  all  possihle  differen- 
ces, and  promoted  no  little  the  spirit  of  toleration  and  kindness.  A 
few  years  hare  escaped.  The  House  of  Bishops  has  in  it<  ranks  five  or 
six  ex-Confederate  officers.  One  of  them  is  a  Foreign  ^Missionary  Bish- 
op, another  presides  over  the  diocese  of  Michigan. 

SYMPATHY  WITH  THP:  COLORED  RACE. 

Among  the  subjects  which  soon  after  these  events  came  to  be  pressed 
upon  the  attention  of  the  Church,  was  the  necessity  of  ade(|uate  provis- 
ion for  the  social  and  religious  needs  of  the  emancipated  race. 

The  Bishop  had  no  need  to  learn  the  lesson  of  responsibility  and 
of  sympathy  for  colored  people.  He  had  always  been  considerate  of 
them,  always  anxious  to  secure  for  them,  while  in  servitude,  adequ;;te 
protection  against  abuse  of  authority,  and  to  promote  the  patriarchal 
relation  of  master  and  servant,  which,  when  duly  observed,  made  the  tie 
of  ownership  and  dependence  very  graceful. 

Bishop  Atkinson,  with  his  usual  decision,  urged  the  necessity  of 
active  measures  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  for  the  care  of  the  colored 
peo2)le,  and  threw  his  influence  earnestly  into  the  establishment  of  the 
F reedmen 's  Comni issi on . 

This  Commission  was  not  heartily  accepted  by  Southern  Church- 
unen.  To  me  it  was  a  grief  of  mind  that  I  could  not,  at  its  inception, 
give  it  an  active  support. 

Secular  education  as  the  chief  end,  not  as  a  means  to  religious  cul- 
ture, or  a  corollary  to  it,  was  the  avowed  purpose  of  the  Commission. 
It  proposed  to  establish  schools  responsible  to  the  central  board,  and  not 
under  the  direction  of  Bishops  and  Rectors.  I  was  alarmed  at  so  serious 
an  innovation  on  just  principles  of  spiritual  subordination,  and  found 
myself  painfully  out  of  accord  with  Bishop  Atkinson. 

Doubtless  he  was  more  far-seeing  than  others  of  us.  In  a  little 
while  the  objectionable  features  were  removed,  and  the  Commission 
planted  itself  upon  a  churchly  basis,  which  leaves  nothing  to  be  desired 

The  Bishop's  hearty  acceptance  of  the  scheme  led  to  the  establish- 
ment in  his  diocese  of  the  Normal  School,  which  he  greatly  valued  and 
faithfully  watched  over.  The  colored  congregation  in  Wilmington  was 
•especially  dear  to  him.  He  put  forth  every  effort  to  promote  the  good 
sv}]]  of  the  two  races,  and  to  extend  the  Church's  blessings  to  botji  alike. 


22. 


IX  MEM0RIA3L 


One  cannot  but  c()ntem])latc  awe  the  problem  to  be  solved  in 
Sonthern  dioceses,  and  the  lar^^er  ])roblem  in  all  the  land,  touching  the 
practical  catholicity  of  the  Church.  How  shall  a  Church,  whose  mem- 
bers are  chiefly  English-speaking  and  are  of  the  white  race,  provide  for 
the  needs  of  people  of  foreign  si)eech,  or  of  another  race? 

A  delegation  of  German  ministers  came  once  into  our  House  of 
Bishops  with  a  piteous  appeal  to  save  men  of  their  nationality,  dwelling 
in  our  midst,  from  the  anarchy  and  heterodoxy  into  which  they  were 
drifting.  The  response,  kind  and  sympathizing  to  be  sure,  was  the  dis- 
heartening "  non  pomim  u>(.  " 

For  this  National  Church  of  ours  has  no  excli'Mjuer  ;  nothing  is  laid 
at  the  feet  of  the  Apostles.  The  alms  of  tlie  I'aithful  are  all  marked 
special.  The  Legislature  and  the  Executive  of  the  Church  are  reluc- 
tant to  devise  any  general  policy  for  the  common  good,  when  they  are 
powerless,  for  lack  of  means  to  put  it  in  operation. 

The  first  instinct  of  the  judgment  is  to  provide  for  these  specific 
classes  teachers  of  their  own  race  or  language,  and  services  suited  to  their 
immediate  circumstances.  Something  has  been  done  on  this  basis,  for 
Indians  and  Negroes,  for  Germans,  Frenchmen,  Italians,  Norwegians ; 
for  Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles.    But  the  work  is  scarcely  begun. 

As  the  most  practical  scheme  for  methodizing  such  work,  without 
surrendering  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  Bishops,  Bishop  Atkinson 
urged  again  and  again,  with  unwonted  earnestness  and  without  any  suc- 
cess whatever,  the  consecration  of  suffragan  Bishops.  The  mind  of  the 
Church  is  so  immovable  on  this  subject,  that  this  device  is  not  to  be  thought 
of.  Each  Bishop  must,  according  to  the  wisdom  given  to  him,  devise 
such  expedients  as  may  best  reach  specified  needs. 

But,  as  for  the  black  race,  who  knows  not  that,  on  any  large  scale, 
it  is  simply  beyond  the  reach  of  our  financial  ability  to  provide  in  the 
most  of  our  neighborhoods  separate  mi^iisters  and  churches  for  the  white 
man  and  the  black  ? 

Why  should  we  not  worship  together  and  kneel  at  the  same  altar  ? 
We  were  wont  often  so  to  do  in  the  olden  days.  I  have  seen  in  St. 
Philip's,  Charleston,  colored  people  occupying  the  range  of  seats  all 
along  the  wall,  on  the  same  floor  with  the  whites,  while  an  old  negress, 
crippled  with  rheumatism,  crept  up  the  main  aisle  to  a  seat  provided 
for  her  in  front  of  the  desk.  On  the  Polk  estate,  in  Tennessee,  one  used 
to  see  the  masters  occupying  the  front  seats  at  morning  prayer,  with  the 
servants  in  the  rear ;  while  at  the  evening  prayer,  the  positions  were  re- 


BISHOP  ATKIXsrjX.  2:]. 


versed,  and  the  iustruction  was  specially  adapted  to  the  humbler  mem- 
bers of  the  flock. 

In  making  a  visitation  <jf  Louisiana  in  Bishop  Polk's  behalf,  I  have 
nfirmed  the  well-born,  refined  young  lady  and  her  maid,  whom  she 
had  instructed,  by  her  side.    The  chivalrous,  high-toned.  Christian  gen- 
try of  the  South  used  to  see  in  such  associations  no  surrender  of  their 
dignity. 

If  the  Church  is  to  discharge  aright  her  high  mission  to  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  I  am  persuaded  we  must  at  last  regard  the  colored 
})eople  as  parishioners,  and  give  them  adequate  accommodation  in  tlio 
church. 

In  this  effort  we  must  consider  the  reluctance  of  some  of  our  parisl,- 
ioners,  and  their  fear  of  disturl^ing  the  usual  order  of  society.  The>f 
scruples  and  anxieties  are  to  be  prudently  dealt  with,  not  violently 
forced. 

But  there  is  a  graver  difficulty  to  be  encountered  in  the  unseemly 
self-assertion  of  some  colored  people,  and  in  the  persistent  demand  <  'i 
theorists  (themselves  never  coming  in  contact  with  the  negro',  that  all 
the  lines  of  color  shall  be  obliterated,  and  that  the  two  races  shall  com- 
mingle, in  all  resjDects,  as  if  they  were  one  race. 

I  was  present  once  at  church,  when  this  deman<l  was  made  of  our 
Bishop — than  whom  the  colored  man  had  no  truer  friend.  Some  mur- 
mured at  the  provision  he  had  directed  to  be  made  for  them,  claiming 
the  right  to  select  their  seats  at  pleasure,  side  by  side  with  the  whites. 
The  Bishop  rebuked  the  demand  as  presumptuous  and  disorderly. 

I  cannot  think  that  this  enforced  familiarity  is  reconcilable  with 
the  just  self-respect  of  either  race.  It  seems  most  natural  that  whit- 
people,  attending  a  church  of  the  colored  race,  should  accept  the  accom- 
modation prcjvided  for  them.  And  surely  the  Christian,  taught  of  hi- 
Master  to  i)refer  the  lowe>t  room,  should  not  thrust  himself  into  a  conti- 
guity deemed  too  familiar  by  his  neighbor. 

Providence,  not  man,  has  plainly  marked  the  diflerence  of  type  in 
the  African  and  the  Caucasian.  To  obliterate  the  color  line  is,  in  the 
end,  to  promote  intermarriage,  to  the  great  injury  of  white  and  black 
alike.  I  believe  that  the  confusion  of  the  races  is  a  thing  impossible. 
But  oh  I  that  the  day  may  come  when  we  shall  dwell  side  by  side,  ex- 
changing all  human  kindnesses,  while  yet  respecting  the  lines  of  demarc- 
ation, which  God,  not  man,  has  drawn.  Oh  for  the  day  when  white 
and  black  shall  worship  in  the  same  churches  without  confu>ion,  without 


24. 


IN  MEMORIAM 


rivalry  or  offense,  the  rich  and  the  poor  together,  and  the  Lord  the  Ma- 
ker of  them  all. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  thus  presenting  some  particulars  of  the  life-work  of  our  revered 
Father  in  God,  I  trust  that  he  is  more  truly  delineated  than  by  any 
mere  enumeration  of  his  mental  and  moral  characteristics. 

There  was  a  remarkable  conipenmtia/i,  so  to  speak,  in  these  ;  one  vir- 
tue supplementing  and  restraining  another,  and  all  combined  with  rare 
adjustment  into  a  harmonious  whole. 

He  was  intensely  intellectual,  but,  at  the  same  time,  so  replete  with 
sensibility,  and  with  all  the  generous  emotions,  whether  of  mercy  or  of 
wrath,  that  he  was  in  no  wise  coldly  intellectual. 

He  had  an  ample  share  of  self-will  and  of  self-reliance  ;  great  confi- 
dence in  the  determination  of  his  own  judgment ;  great  firmness  in  acting 
out  his  own  convictions  ;  but  his  fairness  and  candor,  his  intense  reason- 
ableness, forbade  self-will  to  degenerate  into  obstinacy,  while  his  mod- 
esty and  unselfishness  caused  the  self-reliance  to  avoid  vanity  or  arro- 
gance. 

He  was  eminent  for  the  dignity  of  his  bearing,  yet  benign  and  affable, 
condescending  to  men  of  low  estate,  yet  with  no  consciousness  of  conde- 
scension. 

He  was  prudent  and  cautious  in  his  speech,  reticent  when  it  behoov- 
ed him  to  be  reticent,  and  when  he  did  speak,  so  transparent  and  down- 
right, that  all  might  know  what  was  in  his  mind. 

He  was  a  theologian,  and  yet  not  a  mere  theologian.  On  principle 
and  of  a  purpose  he  cultivated  general  literature,  lest  he  should  fall  into 
theological  narrowness,  and  informed  himself  and  interested  himself  in  all 
that  might  keep  him  in  sympathy  with  his  kind. 

He  was  most  precise  in  his  memory  of  persons,  names,  dates  and 
facts,  yet  never  prolix,  tedious  or  disposed  to  emphasize  trifles. 

He  was  intensely  ecclesiastical,  while  yet  in  his  private  religious 
life  and  in  his  daily  teachings  he  dwelt  upon  those  simple  truths  of  the 
old,  old  story  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God, 
on  which  all  our  hopes  repose.  He  kuew^  how  to  relax  from  labor  ;  he 
upi)reciated  the  humorous,  while  relaxation  never  became  indolence,  and 
playfulness  never  passed  into  frivolity. 

But  was  he,  one  may  ask,  absolutely  perfect  ?  Gertainly,  he  himself 
would  have  been  the  last  to  affect  exemption  from  the  common  frailty. 

Whatever  may  have  been  his  share  of  aiortal  weakness^  even  if  I 


25. 


had  the  sa<i:acitv  to  (lisccrn  it,  f  (hue  not  dissect,  in  sev«ii-cli  of  Haw,  a 
soul  so  just  ajicl  uiiileless.  Of  one  thinu' J  am  well  assured,  that  those 
who  loved  him  best  and  knew  him  in  his  utmost  unreserve,  find  no  note 
in  the  tablets  of  memory  whereon  this  honored  name  is  written,  whieh 
may  not  he  perused  without  exciting  a  serious  regret  or  causing  n  hhish 
of  shame. 

The  Bishop's  life  was  one  of  ])atient  industry  and  uniform  labor, 
with  but  occasional  interruption,  until  he  had  |)assed  a  little  way  beyond 
the  Psalmist's  bound  of  three-score  years  and  ten,  and  then  it  a])peare(l 
(I  am  told  such  is  the  most  ))r()bable  ex))lanation  of  his  gradual  decay) 
the  heart,  as  young  as  ever  in  its  warm  affections,  first  felt  the  debility 
of  age.  The  keepers  of  the  house  were  no  more  tremulous  than  before, 
neither  had  the  strong  men  bowed  themsc]v(\<,  nor  those  that  looked  out 
<->f  the  windows  beconie  darkene<l,  noi-  the  doors  become  shut  in  the 
streets  causing  the  sound  of  th<*  grinding  to  become  low.  He  seemed  as 
strong,  as  clear  in  vision,  as  distinct  in  s])eech  as  in  years  ])efore.  But 
the  golden  bowl  was  breaking,  the  wheel  becoming  disabled  at  the 
cistern  whence  issues  the  stream  of  our  ])hysical  being.  It  remained 
only  to  be  patient  and  to  whisper  in  the  heart  the  "Exi)ectans  expecta- 
vi;"  for  presently  this  man  goeth  to  his  long  home,  hard  by  the  altar 
M'here  he  delighted  to  minister,  and  the  crowd  of  mourners,  family  and 
friends,  vestries  and  citizens,  white  and  black,  bear  him  in  sad  procession 
through  the  streets  of  the  city  where  he  dwelt. 

The  latter  months  of  his  life  were  s])ent  in  seclusion ;  months  they 
were  in  which  with  weariness  and  languor,  but  without  acute  suffering, 
he  steadily  descended  to  the  grave,  released  from  life  so  gently  that  at 
the  last  hour  there  were  no  pains  to  add  anguish  to  his  dismissal. 

Without  too  officiously  opening  the  curtains  of  his  sick-room.  \ 
■would  tell  you,  as  I  have  leai'ued  them  from  those  who  ministered  to 
him,  some  particulars  of  his  last  sickness. 

"You  knew  him  well,  and  are  fully  asvare  how  deeply  his  modesty 
and  profound  humility  veiled  his  inward  feelings,  and  especially  his  re- 
ligious emotions.  He  was  remarkable  for  sincerity  and  simplicity  of  char- 
acter, and  waf»  always  averse  to  a  dis])lay  of  his  feelings.  Accordingly 
his  long  sickness  was  chiefly  marked  by  the  utmost  patience  and  humil- 
ity and  gentleness.  So  too  his  thankfulness  and  ( 'hristian  courtesy  were 
very  manifest  to  the  last.  No  murmur  of  complaint  ever  escaped  his 
lips,  and  the  slightest  service  called  forth  his  courteous  thanks.  As  it 
was  in  his  days  of  health,  so  in  all  his  sickness,  and  in  his  greatest  suf- 
ferings and  iielplessjiess,  he  would  if  possible  help  liinLself],  and  wonld 


21). 


try  to  lesr^eii  the  care  iiiid  pains  of  the  loviiiii'  ones,  wlio  fonnd  their 
hii>-hest  (leliofht  in  ministerino;  to  him. 

"  His  nol)le  and  richly  stored  mind  retained  its  brightness,  and  his 
broad  and  generous  sympathies  with  all  the  best  interests  of  man  were 
manifested  to  the  last.  He  was  read  to  a  great  deal,  and  after  his 
daughter  came  to  AVihnington,  she  spent  much  of  the  time  reading  to 
him.  Among  other  things,  he  would  have  her  read  to  him  his  favorite 
London  Guardian,  and  choice  articles  from  the  Reviews,  keeping  up  his 
interest  in  the  great  public  inovements  and  events  of  the  time. 

"  His  cliild-like  submission  to  the  guidance  of  the  Church  was  note- 
worthy. He  had  the  ap})ointed  lessons  and  the  daily  portions  <>f  the 
Psalter  read  to  him  every  day,  and  on  Sundays  the  entire  services  ;  and 
it  was  ordered  that  very  shortly  before  Ids  departure,  the  two  evening 
psalms  fpr  the  fourth  day,  so  singului  ly  appi-opi-iate,  were  read  to  him  ; 
the  twenty-second  psalm  containing  the  phdutive  supplications  of  our 
Blessed  Lord  upon  the  cross,  and  His  thankful  exultation  ;  and  then 
that  beautiful  inspired  viaticum  of  the  saints,  '  The  Lord  is  my  Shep- 
herd,' and  the  words  of  this  psalm  were  the  last  words  of  Holy  Script- 
ure which  fell  u})on  his  ear,  and  very  soon  afterwards  came  the  sudden 
sunnnons  of  the  Saviour  calling  him  to  Himself. 

"Those  who  were  constantly  with  him  during  the  last  weeks,  now 
see  and  feel  that  they  were  all  the  time  sustained  and  strengthened  by 
his  perfect  patience  and  gentle  cheerfulness,  and  by  the  atmosphere  of 
peace  which  his  lovely  spirit  seemed  to  diffuse  around  him." 

Brethren  of  the  clergy  and  of  the  laity,  it  were  superfluous  to  im- 
press npon  you  the  lessons  of  such  a  life.  They  are  familiar  to  every 
thoughtful  mind. 

May  the  Chui'ch  in  our  land  l)e  ever  ordered  and  governed  by 
Pastors  as  faithful  and  true  as  he  whom  we  coiHincmoratc  to-day  !  May 
he  who  succeeds  to  his  vacant  chair  be  bl('.--(Ml  and  j)i()sj>ered  in  his 
zealous  efforts  to  supply  the  spiritual  lu  i  il-  of  a  diocese  so  large,  so 
overwhelming  in  its  responsibilities,  so  (k'liciciit,  I  fear,  in  the  laborers 
an(1  the  means  necessary  to  reap  the  fields  every\vhere  ripe  for  the  har- 
vest. 

]May  your  reverence  for  him  and  his  high  office,  as  well  as  your 
loving  recollection  of  the  words  of  him  who  l)eing  dead  yet  speaketh, 
lead  the  mend)ers  of  this  diocese  to  rally  as  one  man  around  your  chief 
Pastor,  so  that  this  diocese  of  North  Carolina  shall  be  to  us  all  the  verv 


BISHOP  A  TKIXSOX. 


27. 


pattern  of  wi.se,  united,  effective  workinu'  for  (lod,  for  His  Cluircli,  and 
for  man's  salvation  I 

I  may  best  conclude  this  sermon  hv  utterinu-  concerning  Jiim  whose 
episcopate  is  ended,  the  words  wherewith  he  sought  to  enc(jurage,  h)ng 
years  ago,  a  young  man  just  assuming  the  responsibilities  of  that  office. 

Men  bow  themselves  to  be  consecrated  as  Bishops,  feeling  that 
they  are  about  to  take  up  a  heavy  burden,  and  yet,  after  all,  it  is  to  him 
who  enters  on  it  with  his  whole  soul,  a  good  work,  arduous  but  glorious. 
]Must  we  not  believe  that  God  gives  special  grace  to  faithful  men  who 
heartily  devote  themselves  to  this  work  ?  Are  we  not  permitted  to  hope 
that  we  see  the  effects  of  this  grace  in  their  increasing  ripeness  and 
soundness  of  Christian  character?  That  the  rash  and  vehement  are 
softened,  and  the  gentle  ajid  yielding  are  strengthened?  And  surely, 
surely  we  must  be  ])ersuaded  that  the  reward  of  a  good  Bishop  hereaf- 
ter M'ill  be  s(miething  signal  and  transcendent. 

"  The  an(4EL8  of  the  churches  are  represented  in  the  book 
OF  Revelation,  as  stars  which  the  Son  of  Man  carries  in  His 

RIGHT  HAND,  AND  THE  ELDERS    ARE  DESCRIBED  AS  SITTING  AROUND 

THE  Lord  on  His  throne,  clothed  in  white  raiment,  and  having 

ON  THEIR  HEADS  CROWNS  OF  GOLD." 


Date  Due 

L.  B.  Cat.  No.  1:37 

u'. 

1'!' 

1;:; 

m 

mi 

